In recent years, development efforts have been set back by long-standing obstacles made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing conflicts, climate change, rising debt, lack of digital access and growing inequalities.

Dima Al-Khatib, Director of the UN Office on South-South Collaboration (UNOSSC) says there’s an urgent need to accelerate progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals – only 17 per cent of which are on track.

In pursuit of that, more than 120 Member States gathered this week at UN headquarters in New York to discuss how South-South and triangular partnerships can boost future sustainable development for all.

UN News’s Emma Trager-Lewis sat down with Ms. Al-Khatib and began by asking her to explain what South-South collaboration means in practice. 

"I saw people coming from different parts of the world just to help bring peace in my country,” said Chief Superintendent Zainab Gbla, speaking to UN News just ahead of receiving her award this week for UN Woman Police Officer of the Year.

She’s been serving in Abyei, a disputed oil-rich region straddling Sudan and South Sudan, since April 2023, as the Chief Police Training Officer for the interim security force there, UNISFA.

Ms. Gbla’s award recognises her innovative community engagement initiatives which have strengthened relations between host communities and the UN mission.

UN News' Emma Trager-Lewis sat down with her ahead of the award ceremony and started by asking what drew her to serve as a ‘blue helmet’.

Squadron Leader Sharon Mwinsote Syme of Ghana is this year’s UN Military Gender Advocate award winner for her work boosting gender equality while serving with the UN peacekeeping mission in the disputed Abyei region (UNISFA) between neighbouring Sudan and South Sudan.  

She trained over 1,500 UNISFA personnel on gender-responsive peacekeeping in addition to working closely with local communities, including coordinating a highly effective health campaign to counter child marriage and female genital mutilation.  

UN News’ Naima Sawaya sat down with Squadron Leader Syme ahead of Thursday’s award presentation. 

Until this week, no commercial or humanitarian supplies had been allowed into Gaza since 2 March, deepening an already catastrophic hunger crisis and sparking widespread condemnation from the international community.

Supplies from only 115 out of 400 trucks have been cleared for collection and distribution in recent days, which UN humanitarians have been describing as a ‘drop in the ocean’ of need.

Speaking to UN News’s Ezzat El-Ferri, Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for aid coordination office OCHA said that “people are dying and are left without aid”.

Russia’s continuing full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues to devastate civilian lives and infrastructure, causing large-scale displacement and destruction.

With attacks in the eastern, southern and northeastern frontline regions intensifying, April saw the highest number of civilians killed in Ukraine since last September.

As the UN marks Protection of Civilians Week, UN News’s Nargiz Shekinskuya spoke to Andrea De Dominico, head of the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) in Ukraine and began by asking him what the biggest concerns are.

In a historic milestone for global public health, Member States of the World Health Organization on Tuesday adopted the Pandemic Agreement – an accord aimed at preventing future devastating outbreaks.

Negotiations began in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, and after just three and a half years – a relatively short timeline for crafting complex international treaties – the world today is more prepared than it was before the coronavirus struck.

At the heart of the process is Precious Matsoso, co-chair of the intergovernmental negotiating body that steered the talks to the finish line.

She told UN News’ Vibhu Mishra shortly after the agreement was adopted that it was a ground-breaking moment in public health. 

Related story: Nations adopt historic pledge to guard against future pandemics

With so many wars and emergencies happening at once, it can be easy for other fundamental issues to go unnoticed, such as the safety of journalists.

Nonetheless, it is a time of great danger for reporters who cover these important stories – like Christina Assi, a Lebanese photojournalist who was seriously injured in a double missile strike in the recent fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.

Despite her injuries, Ms. Assi carried the Olympic torch in France ahead of the Olympic Games.

It was a powerful symbol of resilience to many but for her, things haven’t been easy at all. “I believe in nothing right now… Our Press vests are turning us into targets and it's becoming a death sentence for us,” she told UN News's Nancy Sarkis.

Autonomous weapon systems, which require no human input to select and apply force, are developing rapidly and pose a threat to existing humanitarian, ethical, human rights and security norms.

At the end of two days of informal consultations in New York this week – as negotiations continues towards a legal framework which will regulate and ban such systems – UN News’s Naima Sawaya spoke to Nicole van Rooijen, executive director of the civil society coalition, Stop Killer Robots. 

Naima began by asking Ms Rooijen to describe her organization.

There are now more than 122 million people worldwide, forcibly displaced from their homes. While trauma, depression and anxiety are prevalent says the UN World Health Organization (WHO), many refugees and migrants struggle to access mental health services.

Jîn Dawod is an entrepreneur from Syria who fled to Türkiye to escape the brutal war. Suffering post-traumatic stress disorder herself, she created Peace Therapist, a pioneering social technology initiative dedicated to providing online mental health services to vulnerable populations – free of charge. 

UN News’s Emma Trager-Lewis caught up with her after she took part in the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation this week in New York.

Emma began by asking Ms. Dawod when she first came up with her game-changing idea.  

The digital revolution has created unprecedented opportunities for children and young people across the globe to communicate, learn, and socialise.

However, browsing the internet as artificial intelligence gathers pace, also presents dangers – from sexual abuse to cyberbullying – highlighting the need for smarter and more effective regulation to keep youngsters safe.

As the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) holds its annual forum on Science, Technology and Innovation, UN News’s Emma Trager-Lewis spoke to Baroness Kidron, Founder of 5Rights, a UK-based organization dedicated to children’s rights in the digital world.

Emma began by asking the former film director and producer, who addressed Tuesday’s session on harnessing AI for sustainable development, why she first got involved in campaigning for digital rights.